June 15, 2014

It's official. The Wells municipal liquor store will be closing its bar/on-sale portion of the liquor store on Aug. 30.

The liquor store committee met on May 29 and made the recommendation to the Wells City Council to keep it open through Kernel Days and for the United South Central/Wells-Easton all-school reunion.

The committee also recommended the possibility of the bar closing earlier than Aug. 30, due to possible slow business from the announcement of the closing.

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"It is hard to predict what will happen with the staff," city administrator Robin Leslie says. "Maybe we could give a bonus to part-time workers to stick around until the bar closes. Hopefully, we won't have to hire anyone new because we would have to pay them unemployment after Aug. 30."

According to manager Scott Berg, the liquor store currently has four part-time workers and as of right now, all have indicated they are in it for the long haul.

In an effort to improve the overall liquor store, Berg mentioned at the Wells City Council meeting on June 9 that he has looked into possibly changing the store hours.

"It would be great if we could open earlier during the summer to accommodate more people," Berg says. "We would still have to close at 10 p.m., however."

Another change Berg explained to the council was to possibly add a beer or wine cave.

"This is a difficult time right now," Berg says. "But, it also gives us an opportunity to expand the off-sale portion of the store and make some exciting changes. I want the community to know that we are not going anywhere. The bar is leaving, but we are not."

According to Leslie, it sounds like the community wants the off-sale portion of the store to stay in the current building for now and possibly do some remodeling.

"At some point in the future, they can potentially look at different locations if they have the funds," Leslie explains. "There are still lots of decisions which need to be made."

The liquor store has been in Wells since 1948 and deserves a proper send-off, according to council member Ann Marie Schuster.

"This is an exciting opportunity to expand and provide a larger variety for the community," she says.